Bush Baby World Princess Melina – The review

Bush Baby World Princess Melina – We were selected a few months ago to be toy testers for the Rainbow Toy Awards and were really excited when we got the email to say that we were going to be sent a Bush Baby.

I looked these up before it arrived and I knew that Isabelle would love it.

Isabelle is crazy mad about any kind of collectables, and this was cute, pink and furry so ticked all the boxes.

The Bush Baby

We received Princess Melina who has flecks of glitter through her fur and has a Princess crown. She lives in a sparkling palace within Shimmer Mountain where Shimmer Stars grow. Only Princess Melina can pick the Shimmer Stars which are very rare and are used to protect the Dream Tree.

The Accessories

Isabelle is all about the accessories. The accessories are the difference between a thumbs up and thumbs down when it comes to toys.

Princess Melina comes with a pink pod which she sleeps in, a comb, a Royal Sceptre and a Shimmer Star which comes in a little silver drawstring bag.

What does she do?

She waggles her ears and eyes using a little button on her back.

You can brush her fur and hair.

She is one of many Bush Babies that you can collect. You can also get the Dream Tree which all the pods hang from which Isabelle has her eye on.

You can also visit the Bush Baby Website where there are some videos to watch, activities, colouring sheets and printables.

As I’ve said previously, Isabelle loves watching a You Tube video so we thought we’d do an unboxing video of our own.

I must point out at this stage that Isabelle had absolutely no idea what was in the box so that you can see her genuine reaction.

The Video

What we thought.

Princess Melina gets a huge thumbs up from Isabelle. She’s soft and brushable and the pod fits perfectly over the edge of her bed. Once you’ve put Princess Melina into the pod, all of the accessories fit in as well which is a bonus. This was the first time that we’d seen the Bush Babies but it is definitely something that Isabelle would choose herself. She has (or will) add the Bush Baby Tree to her Christmas list. I should also point out that Isabelle has just turned seven and this was very suitable for her age range, but would also have appealed to her at a younger age as well.

The Bush Babies retail for £19.99 which we think is entirely reasonable.

*Disclaimer – We were sent a Bush Baby for the purpose of review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are our own.

The Film

Spark is about a teenage monkey called Spark whose planet was destroyed by the ruthless Zhong leaving him as an orphan with only Chunk, Vix, and some insects for company.

Zhong took over what remained of planet Bana and enslaving everyone who remained.

Spark along with Chunk, Vix, Nanny the Robot and some insects managed to survive on a shard of the planet which was used as a garbage dump whilst Zhong plotted to destroy the entire universe with the help of a deadly space Kraken.

When Spark reaches thirteen he feels ready to take on Zhong, and unbeknown to Chunk and Vix replies to a secret space mission.

Leaving the shard with only his pet roach for company, Spark sets off on the mission of his life.

Making his way into Zhong’s palace with the help of Chunks gadgetry he meets the Queen who gives him a Kraken finder to hide so that Zhong cannot carry out his deadly plan.

Instead of returning to the garbage shard Spark decides to find the Kraken himself. After finding the Kraken he guides it back towards the garbage shard, but Khong’s men have already destroyed everything that had become home to Spark including Bananny the Robot.

Zhong’s men seize the Kraken and capture Spark and imprison him along with Chunk and Vix.

The Kraken is kept under a torturous force field and the garbage shard is destroyed and Spark, Vix and Chunk are thrown into the black hole created by the Kraken.

They land on a planet where many from the original planet Bana had been hiding out. The Captain of the Royal Guard and some of his men have been living not knowing that planet Bana still exists.

Spark is revealed as the Prince of Bana and discovers that the Queen is actually his mother. Vix and Chunk had been keeping Spark safe from the truth on behalf of the Queen until the time came to take back Bana.

They prepare to take back Planet Bana by using Chunks technical know how with the help of mutated bugs. Unbeknown to Spark, Chunk had saved Bananny and pimped her up.

They create a new Kraken slick and return to battle against Zhong. After a great battle where Zhongs ship is destroyed, a black hole is created and Zhong is punched into it by the Queen.

Peace is resumed as Planet Bana is restored to former glory, and the Queen and Prince Spark are in their rightful place.

What we thought:

This was a refreshing change from our usual princessy themed films that we tend to watch. Isabelle was in a telly-trance for the whole film which means it gets a big juicy thumbs up from us. As a parent some of the kids films can be a bit boring, but this was action packed with lots of humour throughout.

Happy Days Linky

The teen getting a sprinkle of humour- for those of us with teenagers you will know all to well how they seem to have a serious lack of sense of humour. We saw a glimmer of return when my two had a pants fights. It started off with Ryan putting a pair of his pants on Isabelle’s head (clean of course). Isabelle grabbed a pair off the airer and the fight commenced. No shouting or ending in tears (Isabelle’s). It was silly but fun!

The ukulele – I was greeted the other day by a newly bought blue ukulele which Nanny had bought for Isabelle. She can’t play it for toffee but wholeheartedly gives it a go. She sang and played everything she said to me for the rest of the evening. Yey!

A lie-in – I had one! Until 9.30 and then breakfast in bed which I ate downstairs. My sleep pattern has been shot to pieces for a long while so I spend most of the time feeling exhausted. I woke up at 6.30 and nearly got up. I read but I must have dropped off as the next thing it was 9.30. Perfect!

Work Free Evenings – I work on my blog in the evenings every night. There is a lot to do and I get stressed if I have an evening off. Anyway, as I haven’t been sleeping that great again I thought that I would try and reduce the amount I did which wasn’t a lot as my brain was so fuzzled I was quite often sitting in front of my laptop but actually watching TV. Not productive at all. So this week I’ve had Friday and Saturday night off and it felt good. I think I’m going to try and do this on a regular basis. We watched the newest Purge film which was pretty rubbish.

Decluttering – I’ve been watching What Katy Said’s decluttering videos (which are awesome) and it’s got me motivated to do the same. My starting point is storage so I need to go and buy some boxes/baskets etc so that I can start to sort and have somewhere to put things. The amount of NEW pink plastic we have since Isabelle’s Birthday is ridiculous.

Baking – Isabelle and I with the help of one of her Brats dolls made Jam Heart Biscuits yesterday. The weather was pants as it kept bucketing down and Isabelle gets a bit stir crazy if you don’t give her something to do. They were really easy to make and it was something to show Daddy when he got home as well.

Walking – I love walking Charlie. It gives me time to think or not. Yesterday the little pain in the butt took himself off to the skate park to scav for food. There’s usually pizza boxes and McDonald’s wrappers so plenty to choose from. Every time I think he’s got over this he does it again. How he doesn’t get run over by a bike or skateboard (they don’t stop) I don’t know. This probably shouldn’t feature on my Happy List but after the fact I always find it funny. I do wonder if I’m going to end up on You Tube entitled ‘Crazy Dog Catcher Hits the Skate Park’. Charlie thinks it’s a great game to run up and down the ramp thing, usually with some stolen food hanging out of his mouth. Little sod!

Jam Heart Biscuit Recipe

Jam Heart Biscuit Recipe – Today the weather was so weird. One minute it was bright blue sky and the sun was shining so I put out the washing and was due to head out for a walk with the dog. I turned my back and the next thing it was bucketing down and I had to run like a crazy person to get all the washing back in. This occurred three times so I gave up and put the washing on the airer and we made the decision to bake. So here the recipe which is really easy to make.

What you need:

For the dough

300g/10oz Plain Flour

150g/5oz Caster Sugar

250g/8oz Butter

1 large egg yolk

2 tsp Vanilla Essence

1/2 tsp Salt

For the filling

60g/2oz Butter

90g/3oz Icing Sugar

Jam

A couple of drops of Vanilla Essence

1 tsp Water

How to make the dough:

Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat together.

Add in the egg yolk and vanilla essence and mix until smooth.

Sift in the flour and salt and mix everything together to form a dough.

Roll the dough into a ball and wrap in clingfilm and pop in the fridge for around 30 minutes.

To make the biscuits:

Pre-heat your oven to Gas Mark 4 (180ºC/350ºF)

Sprinkle the work surface with flour so that it doesn’t stick and then roll out the dough so that it is about 1/2cm thick.

Grease your baking trays (we used two).

Get your cookie cutter of choice (we went for a heart shape with a circle in the middle) and cut out your biscuits.

Once you have cut out the biscuits, count them. Put one half of the biscuits to the side and the other, cut out a smaller circle in the middle. These will be the tops.

Bake the cookies in the oven for approximately 12 minutes or until golden.

Whilst these are cooling you can prepare your filling.

For the filling:

Put the butter in a bowl and microwave for about 20 seconds. This makes it so much easier to make butter icing.

Sift in the icing sugar and add the water and vanilla essence.

Mix together until you have a smooth consistency.

Once the cookies are completely cooled, spread a small amount on the bottom biscuits (without the hole) and then add a small blob of jam before popping the lid on.

Eat!

This is the first time that we’ve made these, and we’ll definitely make them again.

Happy Days Linky – Back to School and off into the World of Work

Happy Days Linky – Social media will be packed full of smiling little faces stood in front of their front doors with their brand spanking new school uniforms, shiny shoes, bags and book bags all eager to start or be back at school.

Monday I was totally the beamingly proud mum sending off my ‘little one’ for his first day at work! Ryan started his first day as an Apprentice Carpenter today. He went off wearing his new work uniform with his high vis vest in his bag, his packed lunch and a smile on his face. Unfortunately he wouldn’t pose for the obligatory standing in front of the front door which is a bit of a shame. Nonetheless, it was a total proud parenting moment.

Routine – Tuesday Isabelle went back to school. She was pleased to go even though she was a little Monkey at bedtime last night and could barely open her eyes.

Birthday Cake Prep – With a full week at work I did something that I’ve never done before. I made the sponges for the cake and put them in the freezer. I knew that it would be stressful getting the cake made so I wanted to be as organised as possible.

Birthday – Friday was Isabelle’s 7th Birthday. The day started at around 6am and was a flurry of presents, pancakes and then a rush to get dressed and out of the door to school and work. The look on Isabelle’s face when she unwrapped her presents was what us mums and dads live for. We’re much more savvy with present buying these days. Quality over quantity. We bought her exactly what she’s been coveting for the last few months. She’s a huge Kids You Tube fan so we managed to get her a giant surprise egg which we filled with ‘blind bags’ such as Shopkins, Num Noms, Trolls and such like. Her face was priceless.

Birthday party – I am pleased to report that the birthday party that we arranged for after school at the local ibounce trampoline park was totally worth it. All the kids that were invited came (yey) and they all had an amazing time. I couldn’t resist a bounce myself and even went off the platform backwards with a little bit of encouragement from the kids! You can see that on my Instagram if you like!

More birthdays – September is the month for birthdays in our family. Clearly the result of all those Christmas party’s. Ha ha!

Sleepover – Isabelle had her first sleepover at our house this weekend. She has slept at her friends once before, and this was our turn. They had dinner then mostly amused themselves with all of Isabelles birthday presents. We watched Strictly which was a bit disappointing as there wasn’t much dancing. They did, however have a bit of a boogie in front of the TV. There was no fuss getting them to bed, and it was quite sweet listening to them whispering and giggling. They didn’t stay up all night as they’d planned and once they were asleep they were gone for the night. The morning saw them trampolining in their pyjamas before resuming trying to cram in a play with EVERYTHING. It’s fair to say that it was a success and I’m just waiting to see how long it is before we get asked again.

Photo’s – Don’t you just love it when the memories come up in your facebook feed? I love it and more so when it involves a birthday and all the pics from previous years come up. This picture is Isabelle’s first birthday when we bought her first trike. Look at that face!

New job – I know I posted about my new job the other week, but this is another new job. I’ve just had the official green light so am pleased to announce that I am the new Local Editor for Mumsnet Exeter. I’m really excited about this.

Happy Days Linky – Celebrating the normal yet small wins in life.

Oops I missed the Happy Days Linky last week, mostly because I spent the most part of last week at home coughing, sniffing and sneezing.

Unfortunately I shared my germs with Isabelle and so she was struck down as well.

Come the weekend we felt a bit more human and headed off to one of the local pubs for some food and Pimms. We sat in the gardens (which are huge) and had a relaxed lunch and a jug of Pimms.

Running – Isabelle made up a game where we took turns in picking a tree in the gardens and she had to run as fast as she could whilst we timed her. A very simple thing but it kept her occupied for ages.

Family BBQ – Bank Holiday Monday was scorching hot so we spent the afternoon in the garden with the paddling pool out, bouncing on the trampoline and cooking and eating yummy food. Actually I should mention that I did absolutely no cooking at all. That was all down to Daddy. My actual contribution was chopping the salad and getting all the plates and cutlery out.

Tuesday – Tuesday marked the official return to work for both of us. Isabelle is back at school next week so I suppose our real return to routine starts next week.

Birthday Preparations – Birthday preparations for next week are steaming on ahead. After lots of thinking we’ve decided on a trampoline park party at the newly opened iBounce.

Birthday shopping – Again all going well. I even managed to find a site that sells the giant surprise eggs that you get surprise bags inside. Isabelle is obsessed with youtube kids so I know she’s going to LOVE this – I might just be a little bit excited about this.

Summer Fair – We spent Saturday at one of our local parks at their annual Summer Fair. We were joined by my mum, niece and nephew. We played drums, hooked ducks, won raffle prizes, ate yummy greek food, had snow cones and finished off with a play in the park.

Today we had our first roast dinner in a long time. As it was pouring down with rain we watched trolls whilst it cooked and then stuffed ourselves silly. Yummy.

Bring on this week when Monday we send Ryan off into the big bad world of adult work and Tuesday Isabelle is officially a year 2 girl.

9 Top Tips for Starting Back to School

Isabelle is going to start in Year 2 in September. We’ve met her teacher and know which classroom she is going to be in. Whether it’s your little ones first day at school or if they are returning, here are my 9 top tips for Starting Back to school.

Tips

1. Make a note of all the important term dates. I don’t know about your kids but Isabelle likes to do a count down in days to practically everything.

2. Early nights – we all let the daily routine slip during the school hols so about a week before gradually return to normal bedtimes/wake-up times so that it’s not too much of a shock.

3. Name Labels – Schools encourage all parents to labels their kids clothes and it’s much better in terms of getting things back should they leave them behind. We used My Nametag Name labels with little Hello Kitty’s on them which made it much easier for Isabelle to find.

4. School Bags – again there are popular bags that a lot of other children will have so either choose one that will immediately stand out or make it more unique by adding a key ring to the zip which may have there name on. When Isabelle started one mum had actually made little laminate labels with her daughters picture on for her bag and her packed lunch box.

5. Lunch boxes – again I would recommend either trying to find one a bit different or personalising it as they usually all go on a trolley which then has to be collected at lunch time.

6. School Talk – Isabelle was really shy and the things that worried us the most was her not asking to go to the toilet or telling somebody if she was hurt or upset. Whenever she was unsure about something she would usually stand and not speak or join in. We talked to her about which people she should ask for things i.e. If she needed to go to the toilet ask any grown-up in the room and making her familiar with her things so she knew what she was looking for.

7. School shoes – this one seems quite simple but then you go school shoe shopping and the gorgeous Mary-Jane style shoes have are shouting at you from the shelf. WALK AWAY!! – Harsh I know but how many four year olds do you know that can do a buckle by themselves? Same for boys – resist lace-ups. Keep things as simple as possible. Go for Velcro straps so they can put them on and off as quick as a flash.

8. Lunch – maybe I should have out this in with the lunch box tip but Isabelle came home on three consecutive occasions where she hadn’t eaten her sandwiches but they looked a bit mangled and she hadn’t eaten her fruit winder which she loved. When I asked her about it, it was because she couldn’t take the cellophane off her sandwiches or undo the wrapper of the fruit winder and was too shy to ask for help. To make things easier we bought a little sandwich box and some pots that she could easily undo herself.

9. Try not to show your nerves- I know this is a big ask but try and transfer as much confidence to your kids as possible. It’s okay to have a few tears as you do the walk back across the playground minus your son or daughter. I unfortunately was that mum whose child had to be peeled off me whilst I walked away to the sounds of her pleading me to stay. It was horrendous. Don’t let that put you off, at this point Isabelle was still the most clingy child I’ve ever known!

These are my top tips but most schools seems to make it as easy as possible for new starters by using pictures instead of words. Isabelle was a ladybird which she liked a lot so all of her school things has her name with a ladybird next to it.

Ooh I almost forgot. Try not to make any after school plans for the first couple of weeks as they get really tired and ratty adjusting to the new routine. I think that may be where the term ‘Witching Hour’ come into play.

#SchoolHols2017 – River Cottage Summer Festival

Not sure what to get up to this weekend then head to the River Cottage Summer Festival. Running from Saturday 26th – Sunday 27th August 2017. There are loads of things for both kids and adults to take part in all set beautiful surroundings. Day tickets and weekend tickets

What’s more under 16’s get in FREE when accompanied by an adult.

What is there to do?

There is a wide range of activities to get stuck into including:

Performances by Swamp Circus and Rainbow Gecko Giant Bubbles

Play Art Junk Modelling for the artistic amongst you

A foraging tour with John Wright

Baby Massages

Kids Yoga

The Hands-On mud kitchen – Awesome!

Play in the sandpit

felting and flower workshops

Marine Monster Making

Pottery

Jewellery making

Clay modelling

Take some time out to appreciate the stunning countryside with a guided geology walk with local butterfly experts, and take part in star gazing after sunset.

Masterclasses are also available in sushi making, cooking over a wood fire and for the little ones there are pizza making and ice cream sundae making.

Of course lots of food will be available street food style from local artisan producers. Experience the Farmhouse Feast with a two-course sit down meal served in the iconic Farmhouse for just £20 with a fantastic menu using fresh, seasonal and local produce from the farm, garden and local suppliers.

There will also be a selection of bars located across the Festival serving a variety of sumptuous drinks from Chase Vodka cocktails and English sparkling wine from neighboring Castlewood Vineyard to locally sourced beers, ciders, wines and seasonal cocktails.

A team of chefs and experts will be on hand to share their culinary tips throughout the two-day weekend on the Garden Stage hosted by Steven Lamb. On the Saturday, visitors can enjoy a mix of chefs, speakers and activists including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, forager John Wright, Bake-Off star Chetna Makan and herbalist Katie from Pukka Teas. On the Sunday, award-winning blogger Ed Smith will take to the stage alongside Satish Kumar, Michelin-starred Adam Byatt and Hugh.

Festival goers can enjoy music throughout the weekend with a variety of brilliant musicians on the line-up. There is live music from midday until 10pm on both days, with entertainment for the whole family. On the Saturday, Sound of the Sirens will headline alongside The Jack Daniels Band, Them Voices Poor, Sadie Horler, Hungry Bentley, Nicky Swann and DJ Diggz. On the Sunday, visitors can enjoy music from The Travelling Band, Mr Tea and the Minions, Melissa Bel, Mark McCabe, Tori Reed and the Troubadours and DJ Diggz.

How much does it cost?

There are various ticket prices available which you can look at the options on the River Cottage website.

How to get there?

Have a great weekend!

Living in the South West or visiting for the holidays then have a look at our oodles of suggestions for #southwestdaysout – Whether you’re looking for local attractions or fabulous beaches and walks.

Happy Days Linky

Happy Days Linky – I’m really glad that I started linking up with the #HappyDaysLinky with Katy and Sian as it does help you to reflect on the god rather than dwelling on all the rubbish.

As I write this post we’d just heard of the terror attack in Barcelona where Chris and Ryan were the day before the attack. The other attack is just six miles from where we are now. We watched the news in the bar along with all the other guests with disgust at these senseless loss of lives.

It’s scary knowing how close this is, especially as we’re in a foreign country that we don’t know all that well.

Holiday – for the past week we’ve been on holiday in Salou, Spain with Chris’ parents and sister. It was much needed and we did the usual beach and pool combination. I’m not a sun worshipper at all and at times I think I was pinned as a bit of a kill joy but I cannot stand too much sun. I have sunburn and blisters to prove this theory! Actually at the time of writing this paragraph I was sat in our hotel room with the air con up high smothered in aloe Vera gel with two soaked tissues on my legs to help cool my burning hot legs. I also have cleavage blisters I’m not doing a down the top shot for you!

Time with the teen – Ryan has been with us on this holiday. It’s likely to be one of the last as he’s way too cool to hang out with us. However, he was here with us and talked at dinner which is a step up from the usual eating in his room or not at all. As Daddy’s birthday treat we paid for a trip to Barcelona to tour around Camp Nou, the zoo and also see the sights which they did as a ‘lads day out’.

Sibling rivalry – not sure this should be on my Happy List but it does make me chuckle (not at the time). Standing in the dinner queue we have the usual:

‘mum tell Ryan to stop looking at me’

‘Mum Ryan’s smiling at me!’

‘Mum Ryan’s looking at me in a mean/rude/horrible way’

At the time it drains me, but I think it’s like a right of passage for kids growing up as I remember doing the exact same thing with my brother and sister. It seems that an 11 year age gap still doesn’t abolish this age old family way.

Birthdays – we’ve had two birthdays this week with both Daddy’s and my mother in-laws so we’ve had two gorgeous really light cream filled sponge cakes. Being birthdays we took them out for a lovely meal and drinks at the all inclusive hotel restaurant – ‘order whatever you like’ we cried ……… ‘No expense spared!!’

Swimming – Isabelle has Ben like a little fish this week. She’s either been in the sea or in the pool. She has armbands but she’s learnt to swim with her head under the water and jump in off the side. She’s been going to the deep end of the pool so can’t stand and she’s also been doing a bit of lilo surfing at the beach.

Reunion with the pooch – Although we were all sad when the holiday came to an end, but I was looking forward to seeing Charlie again. He was really excited to see us and it was great to hear that he’d had a great week of long walks on Dartmoor with his new bestie Zac. He did have a wiggy on with me which lasted from Saturday until late Sunday afternoon which I think was my punishment for leaving him.

Happy Days Linky

Happy Days Linky – I’ve done it! My first day in my new job is done and dusted. I found it quite unnerving going from knowing my stuff to being the new girl not knowing who to pay the tea fund money to. It went fine. I was useless but it was fine!

Sharknado 5 – One of my guilty pleasures are cheesy films featuring monster sharks, huge crocs or such likes. Tonight is the premiere of Sharknado 5 so what better way to finish off my first day in the new job. If you haven’t watched them then you have to. My favourite film of all time has to be Lake Placid. Don’t judge me!

The funny things that Isabelle says – At six years old she comes out with some crackers in total innocence that have me snickering and face away laughing. On our dog walk, Charlie seems to like peeing in the river but he always cocks his leg towards long grass along the edges. Isabelle says “I think he does that because he likes the grass tickling his willy” whilst she eyerolls and sighs ‘boys’!

Holiday – We can finally say that we’re going on holiday ‘this week’. There are clothes all over the house in bags and ready but not quite packed for the final pack on Friday morning.

We made it to Spain. The flight was absolutely fine. I set off the beeper so had to go in the machine and then be frisked. Here’s to a week off.